IBSE Final

Chapter 6 Fulfilling National aspirations Through Curriculum Reform

tHE tEACHING OF SCIENCE: 21 st-CENTURY PERSPECTIVES 123

Establishing Policies for School Programs and Classroom Practices

Following is a discussion of education policies that are guidelines for science

education programs, instruction, and practices. The policies are based on the

fundamental divisions of ecology—organisms, environments, and populations.

Using this ecological model and placing it in a human context, I asked, What is

it about these divisions that is essential from a global perspective of sustainable

development? My answers included both a conceptual and ethical orientation.

Here are the answers, stated as policies. Science education programs and prac-

tices should guide learning toward (1) understanding and fulfilling basic human

needs and facilitating personal development, (2) maintaining and improving the

physical environment, (3) conserving natural resources and using them wisely,

and (4) developing an understanding of interdependence between people at the

local, national, and global levels, that is, development of a sense of community.

The ideas inherent in the first policy are simple and straightforward: All

humans have basic physiological needs, such as clean air and water and suffi-

cient food. They also need adequate shelter and safety. At higher levels, humans

have the need to belong to groups and to perceive themselves as adequate

and able. Simply stated, individuals need sustenance, order, community, and

purpose for healthy physical, psychological, and social development. Education

programs can contribute directly to the fulfillment of students’ basic needs. They

can be designed to help individuals gain knowledge about fulfilling these needs,

inform individuals about the unfulfilled needs of others, and present the prob-

lems and possibilities associated with fulfilling human needs. The policy has a

universal nature. All individuals have basic needs. Food and the development of

a personal identity are both needs. Individuals in developed nations often think

that alleviation of hunger and freedom from disease are the only basic needs in

developing countries. The hierarchy of needs makes it clear that individuals in

all nations are influenced by needs, though the needs may be different from one

individual to the next and from one country to the next. A principal function of

any society is to fulfill the needs of its citizens.

Science educators recognize only part of the problem, however, by presenting

ideas that can help fulfill basic human needs. In State of the World (1990), Lester

Brown and his colleagues clarify the role of values:

In the end, individual values are what drive social changes. Progress toward

sustainability thus hinges on a collective deepening of our sense of responsibility

to the earth and to future generations. Without a re-evaluation of our personal

aspirations and motivations, we will never achieve an environmentally sound

global community. (Brown et al. 1990, p. 175)

To have any effect, policies must include both ideas and values, and it is essen-

tial that the values are compatible with the policy and serve to direct personal